Safety Harnesses are used in extreme conditions and environments on a regular basis. Examples include construction sites, building structures, wind mills, petrochemical refineries, sandblasting environments, shipyards, etc. The material used for the harnesses could degrade with normal use in a long period of time or short period of time. This is not linear verses the life cycle. Such damage could include impact damage, ultra violet degradation, corrosion, moisture, cuts & holes, tearing, stitching damages and the like all without limitation.
Sometimes the damage is just not apparent to the user. At other times, the damage seems minor at the first look. However, all defects can have a big impact on the performance of the product when it is time to perform and potentially save lives, especially for fall protection products.
There are some known “fault indicators” for safety harnesses. Known harnesses do not provide indicators of UV degradation, corrosion, moisture, cuts & holes, tearing, or stitching damage.